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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25455142">so bright that birds would sing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat'>blackkat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>hawks 'verse [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Flirting, Humor, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:34:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>774</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25455142</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey,” Keeli says, and Quinlan turns just in time to have his shirt hit him in the head. “Meeting in an hour. Go clean up.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Quinlan Vos/Keeli (Star Wars)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>hawks 'verse [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825195</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>510</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>so bright that birds would sing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For the prompt: Quinlan hired on Keeli because he was an attractive disaster. He has no idea what to do now, with Keeli the Hypercompetent and Extremely Shirtless Personal Aide</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey,” Keeli says, and Quinlan turns just in time to have his shirt hit him in the head. “Meeting in an hour. Go clean up.”</p><p>Quinlan drags the piece of cloth off his head, rolling his eyes. “What, you want to watch me hose down? Keeli, you <em>perv</em>—”</p><p>“No, I just don’t want to have to watch Stass come and drag you out of a pit ten minutes late. Again,” Keeli retorts, and Quinlan's bag follows the shirt. “Go pretend to be a professor for a few hours.”</p><p>“<em>Pretend</em>?” Quinlan says, and his outrage is not nearly as faked as he wants it to be. “I have three PhDs, thanks.”</p><p>“I couldn’t tell, with that many layers of dirt on you.” Keeli pauses in front of him, and as Quinlan drags his shirt on and tosses his bag over his shoulder, Keeli shoves a folder into his hands. “Those are all the reports Mak and Zule did last week, and the list of everything Caleb's managed to catalogue so far. Barriss doesn’t have the data on dating back from the lab yet, but I'm sure you can come up with some kind of excuse.”</p><p>Blinking, Quinlan looks at the folder, then at Keeli, who’s entirely, attractively shirtless, the ram horn tattoos from the backs of his hands curling up his torso in rusty red, dark skin gone even darker than Quinlan's in the sun. Between the muscle and the tattoos and the beard, Quinlan maybe can't find his tongue for ten seconds longer than usual.</p><p>Obi-Wan is never, ever hearing about this. Neither is Aayla, for that matter.</p><p>“Thanks,” he says, a little bemused. He’d forgotten about the meeting today, and he’s pretty certain that he only mentioned it once in passing to Keeli, potentially all the way back on Monday. The fact that he not just remembered, but prepared for it, is…mildly bewildering. “Room key?”</p><p>“In your bag.” Keeli raises a brow at him, an edge of a smirk pulling at his mouth. “Actually going to shower and not just use the hose?”</p><p>“Afraid you’ll miss out?” Quinlan retorts, and maybe waggles his eyebrows at him. He’s never claimed to have class. “You’re welcome to share, if you want.”</p><p>“So manhandling is a second date thing, but fucking you in the shower is a pre-date activity?” Keeli leans in, and Quinlan leans back, ready to close the gap, fit their mouths together the way Keeli's been teasing at for a week and a half now—</p><p>A thick folder slaps him in the chest. “Grant documents,” Keeli says, and that smirk is <em>evil</em>. “Good luck, Professor.”</p><p>Quinlan doesn’t know whether to punch him or kiss him, but one of the options is definitely going to win out over the other very soon.</p><p>“Fucking me in the shower is a <em>privilege</em>,” Quinlan says, grinning at him. “And you make a good Sexy Assistant, so I figured I should reward you.”</p><p>“Yeah?” Keeli drawls, looking unimpressed, and Quinlan probably definitely shouldn’t find that so hot, but he’s never claimed to be anywhere close to functional, either. “Go to your meeting like a good boy and maybe I’ll keep walking around shirtless, Professor. Now get lost.”</p><p>“That’s <em>bribery</em>,” Quinlan says, but—potentially it’s closer to admiration than any sort of complaint.</p><p>“It works,” Keeli counters, raising a brow at him. “Go.”</p><p>Quinlan considers. An hour to shower and get to the university, and that’s not a lot of time, but…</p><p>He steps closer, right into Keeli's space, and grins at him, all teeth. “Going to make me?” he asks lazily.</p><p>“Yeah,” Keeli says, unmoved. “Because I told Chancellor Valorum you’d be there at two.”</p><p>Two. That means—</p><p>“<em>Shit</em>,” Quinlan says, because he has less than half an hour to make himself vaguely presentable and get to the chancellor’s office, and there’s no <em>way</em> he isn't going to be late. “Keeli, what the <em>fuck</em>—”</p><p>“Run,” Keeli says mercilessly, and Quinlan growls, grabs him by the waistband of his pants, and hauls him in to a quick and dirty kiss.</p><p>“You fucking <em>owe</em> me,” he says, and Keeli laughs.</p><p>“I’ll add it to the list,” he says, and Quinlan doesn’t have any time to process that. He runs.</p><p>(Keeli didn’t fucking tell the chancellor two o’clock. The meeting’s still set for two-thirty. Quinlan shows up fifteen minutes early, scrubbed and still buttoning his shirt, only to have Tholme's old friend congratulate him on his punctuality.</p><p>Quinlan's going to murder Keeli. But he’ll kiss him again before he does, because a mouth like that shouldn’t go to waste. And, potentially, Keeli makes a <em>much</em> better assistant than Quinlan expected.)</p>
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